updated 07:55 pm EST, Thu December 29, 2011

USPTO filing hints at future branding

Sony Ericsson has filed to establish trademark protection for the term "Xperia ION", hinting at the company's upcoming branding. Although the US Patent and Trademark Office documents do not shed light on a specific product, the filing was tied to the cellphone market and is expected to be used for one of the company's flagship devices.

The handset maker is said to be working on several high-end smartphones, which are currently referred to as the LT28at and Nozomi. The former is expected to feature a 4.55-inch display with 720p resolution, along with a dual-core Snapdragon processor and a 13-megapixel primary camera.

The Nozomi is said to integrate a 4.3-inch display with 720p resolution, a 12-megapixel Exmor R camera sensor, and a dual-core processor.

Sony Ericsson is expected to unveil new devices as early as January at CES. [viaXperia blog]